Broward Rate Of Growth In `80s At 10.5%

Broward County`s population increased by 10.5 percent to more than 1.1 million in the first five years of this decade, the U.S. Census Bureau reported on Tuesday.

The new population estimate showed 106,900 more people on July 1, 1985, than on April 1, 1980, according to the latest census update from the U.S. Commerce Department.

That brings Broward`s population up to 1,125,200, according to census estimates.

``It`s pretty much what we expected,`` said Faith Sincich, a research assistant at the University of Florida`s population program in the Bureau of Economic and Business Research. ``In terms of percentage, it`s about the same (as the UF unit`s own estimate).`` The population program keeps a count for the state and makes projections for state growth.

The UF population unit estimates Broward will have 1,242,136 people by April 1,1990.

The Census Bureau, which counts Broward and Dade as a single population center, said the two-county area was the nation`s 11th largest metropolitan area.

Dade had 1.75 million people in 1985, and the Dade-Broward area grew 8.9 percent in the five years since 1980 to 2,878,300, according to the new estimate.

Between 1983 and 1984, the two South Florida counties nudged the Cleveland- Akron-Lorain, Ohio, area from the No. 11 spot, and Cleveland remained in 12th position in 1985. The 10th largest area is Washington, D.C., and its suburbs in Maryland and Virginia.

But there is no indication that Dade-Broward will break into the top 10 anytime soon. The Washington area already has almost 3.5 million people, and the twin South Florida counties are projected to have only 3 million by 1990.

``It would take Miami quite a while to catch up to Washington. So I don`t think that will happen,`` said Don Starsinic, a Census Bureau spokesman in Washington. ``It is highly unlikely. If there is a tremendous growth spurt like in the early `70s, that would help.``

The University of Florida predicts the fastest growth will occur farther north on the coast, not in the already heavily urbanized Broward and Dade counties.

Palm Beach County is the 10th fastest-growing metropolitan area in the country, the census report said. The county grew at a rate of 25.4 percent in the five years since 1980 to 723,100 people, census figures show.

Miami-Fort Lauderdale ranked 81st on the fast-growth list.

Meanwhile, the Census study showed several changes in the ranking of the nation`s top 10 metropolitan areas from 1980 to 1985. The San Francisco- Oakland-San Jose area (5.8-plus million) displaced Philadelphia (almost 5.8 million) as the country`s fourth-largest area. And Dallas-Fort Worth moved up from 10th to ninth, with 3.5 million, shoving the nation`s capital a notch back.